"Hopefully a lot of people will be able to divine the concept of 'Young

Ancient One' from the title," Worley told CBR News on Wednesday, "But for

those that aren't Dr. Strange fans: 'Young Ancient One' tells the

adventures of Dr. Strange's mentor when he was a young man in 15th century

Tibet.

"Of course, he wasn't so ancient back then and he really didn't even

know anything about sorcery or the mystic arts. He is, however, a cocky

kung fu fighter with a cool costume and a town to protect. The villagers

are in awe of him but his wife is there to keep his ego in check and keep

his feet on the ground. In the story we are telling, Young Ancient One

encounters a dangerous sorcerer who opens his eyes to a world he never knew

existed, sending him (and wife) down the 500-year path that takes him from

a wise-ass fighter to a wizened mentor."

Worley's first time at bat will not come in the form of a one shot or a

story in an anthology, as is more typical in the industry when newcomers

first break in.

"This is a three-issue mini-series under Marvel's Epic imprint. I was going for a sort of 'Iron Monkey' meets 'Lord of the Rings' set in the Marvel universe with a little 'Moonlighting' characterization thrown in.

"Andy Kuhn and Bill Crabtree, both of 'Firebreather' fame are on board to provide the art and colors.

"The book has a lot of humor in it and I think Andy's style is perfect for it. His background is in animation, so it has a little bit of a cartoony vibe. But he's also able to draw really distinct and expressive characters, which is great for those 'actor moments,' as he calls them.

On top of that he's got these mad design skills, so I know he's going to make all the characters look cool."

If Worley talking in the future tense makes you suspect that the project is still at an early stage, you're right.

"I don't think it's been scheduled yet. [It will be published] as soon as possible, I hope. I'm still working on the scripts and Andy's just gotten started with the designs, but we're both eager to see this thing in print as soon as we possibly can."

Worley's steady output of Comics2Film stories for CBR News alone would keep most people busy, but submitting something to Epic was something he'd been planning on doing for some time.

"Well, 'Young Ancient One' was born specifically about my thinking about projects to pitch for Epic. I wanted to go off the beaten path and try to use a character that really hadn't had the spotlight before. By January I was already in progress on a different Epic script when this concept captured my imagination.

"After it occurred to me, it felt like such a strong concept that I

really had to stop working on the other script and go full tilt at 'Young

Ancient One.'"

The process was fairly straightforward for the first-time writer:

"I've always been a fan of Steve Ditko's Marvel work and in thinking

about Dr. Strange I realized that we had this fascinating character in his

mentor, the Ancient One. Here's a character with 500 years of history and

adventure under his belt, before we even met him for the first time in

'Strange Tales' #110.

"So I was intrigued by that, and by the notion of exploring the Marvel

Universe of 500 years ago. All that collided with my more recent addiction

to Asian martial arts movies (and American ones too) and I really just

thought 'Young Ancient One' would be a great story to tell.

"Very quickly I had written a one-shot script, which is what Marvel was

asking for in the Epic submissions guidelines. The script was totally

kick-ass and a sure-fire green light, or so I thought.

"Well, Marvel didn't green light that script. But they did see potential

and thought I was off to a good start. The Epic editors, Stephanie Moore

and Teresa Focarile, as well as Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada worked with me

to identify the strengths and weaknesses of what I had written. As a

result, I was able to expand on the story and add some depth and humor and